Climber Toby Roberts is proud to be part of a wave of Team GB athletes taking the sport by storm at Paris 2024.

Having finished third in the boulder phase, the 19-year-old came second in the lead element to reach the final of the new combined Olympic event.

“It was a great experience,” said Roberts.

“It feels really strange competing on an Olympic stage with this massive crowd, but I’m happy to have kept a clear head and put in a good performance. When it’s just me and the wall, I don’t think about anything else.”

Roberts will be among the favourites to reach the podium and having been the first British male climber to qualify for the Games, can make more history with top-three finish.

The teenager will be joined in the medal contest by Hamish McArthur, making GB the only nation to qualify two for the showpiece.

“I’m really proud that we have two people in the final,” said the Surrey youngster. “It’s awesome. 

“More and more people are getting into climbing in the UK, the sport is growing so much and it’s great to see so many GB athletes doing well. 

“We’ve had four qualify for the Olympics and now two in the final, it’s only getting better.”

Roberts finished fifth at the 2023 World Championships and has won three World Cup medals this year alone in the lead discipline, including gold in Wujiang, China. 

“Obviously I’ve got expectations because I’ve done well in the World Cups,” said McArthur.

“For me it’s best to keep a clear head with no expectations because it’s the Olympics and I’ve never done the Olympics before. For me, it’s just about enjoying the competition really.”

The sport made its debut in Tokyo in an unsatisfactory heptathlon-style format that saw bouldering, lead and speed climbing combined into one event.

Boulder and lead have been separated out for Paris in a move that Roberts favours.

“I think the format will show who is the most versatile climber,” he said.

“It’s going to be a completely different challenge and there is a short gap between the boulder and the lead in the final, which will test people’s energy systems and recovery.

“Doing a lead route on the back of four intense boulders is definitely a lot harder.”

Watch every moment of Olympic Games Paris 2024 live only on discovery+, the streaming home of the Olympics